Ever any doubts?
I’m just curious whether or not any of you have had any doubts as to whether a pipe is actually made of what it claims. The one I’m smoking, albeit a rather non expensive pipe, has me questioning it …again. It’s a Molina supposedly made from Mediterranean briar. I love the shape and dimensions but I have a few problems. The walls of the bowl are rather thick as well as the shank. It gets hot to the touch fast…very fast. It also is very light compared to other pipes I have. Considering the thickness of other pipes I have this just doesn’t add up. Any thoughts? 
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There are different grades of briar found in any bruyere growing region. I was surprised to learn that the denser, heavier grades are cheaper and less desirable.
Seems counterintuitive, to me, but the lighter grades are not only easier on your TMJ when clenching, but also handle heat and moisture better than the heavy briar. I wasn't sure, but I started noticing that my Stanwell "featherweight" series pipes actually do seem to smoke better.
So, your Mediterranean briar may well be Mediterranean briar, but the dense grade that transmits heat more quickly. It does seem surprising that you feel that its weight is less than some others. There may be other factors that I am not aware of.
"If you do not read the newspapers you're uninformed. If you do read the newspapers, you're misinformed." -- Mark Twain
That makes me think, all of my pipes are either briar or meerschaum. There are other woods used, such as Olive wood. I think some of the folks here may have some of those, I've always wondered about the difference.
"If you do not read the newspapers you're uninformed. If you do read the newspapers, you're misinformed." -- Mark Twain
Fake
My favorite cigar list here
I've heard from an artisan pipe maker that Molina pipes generally come from pretty good briar. Further, the Morgan Bones pipes are said to be second quality briar stummels from Molina. Light weight briar is prized. It's possible that the block your pipe was made from has some internal flaws such as sand pits that make it burn so hot too. I've heard that it's harder to get good briar these days too.
@Amos_Umwhat @Yakster , so I got curious about the weight/density of the pipe. I compared it to this Stanwell that has never ran hot on me. The walls of the bowls are very similar in thickness, height, diameter, and the shank of the Stanwell is thinner. They weighed within two grams of each other. I may be wrong but from what I understand the smooth finished pipe should get warm quicker shouldn’t it? Maybe you’re right Chris. There could be some internal flaws that can’t be seen.
Simple. Not all briar is equal, flawed or not.
Thread-killer...
But, but, he's our Mr. Spock! You can't beat reductive logic!
"If you do not read the newspapers you're uninformed. If you do read the newspapers, you're misinformed." -- Mark Twain
Thus spoke the Professor.